The Salem Red Sox persevered to snatch a 4-3 extra-inning win in the opener of a doubleheader on Wednesday night at Lynchburg City Stadium before racing past the Lynchburg Hillcats, 4-1 in the nightcap.
In game one, the Sox needed nine innings to take the victory. Mario Martinez led off the decisive ninth with a single, extending his hitting streak to nine games. He advanced to third on a Jordan Weems single, bringing up Jose Vinicio with one out. With Weems running on the pitch, Vinicio chopped a pitch to second base that the Hillcats could not turn two on. Martinez scored from third, giving Salem a 4-3 lead.
The Sox trailed until the sixth inning and did not record their first hit until the fifth. In the sixth, Jordan Weems worked a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a hit and run double that Jose Vinicio smacked down the third base line. Tzu-Wei Lin then singled to left-center and drove in both runners, putting the Red Sox on top 2-1.
The inning continued two batters later with a two-out walk to Kevin Heller. Yoilan Cerse shot a grounder down the third base line in the next at-bat that Paul Hendrix could not handle. Lin sprinted around third and scored on the play, extending the lead to 3-1.
Lynchburg jumped out on top with an unearned tally in the first inning. Clint Frazier reached on an error charged to Lin and scored when Nellie Rodriguez doubled to left, giving the Hillcats a 1-0 lead.
Down to their last three outs in the opener, the Hillcats tied the game in the last of the seventh on a balk and an RBI single from Yhoixan Medina. German Taveras did respond by getting a double play ball from Paul Hendrix to keep the game tied.
Teddy Stankiewicz was marvelous in six innings of one-run ball. He allowed only two hits and struck out three with the only run being unearned, but did not factor in the decision.
Taveras (4-1) was tagged with a blown save but picked up the win with two runs allowed on two hits over 2.1 innings pitched. Mike Adams got the final two outs for his fifth save of the season. Vinicio was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a run driven in to lead the offense in game one.
Game two featured another strong pitching performance with Kyle Kaminska striking out five over five shutout innings. Kaminska (1-0) picked up the win in his first start since May 7, 2013.
Salem wasted no time supporting him, hanging three runs in the top of the first inning. Cerse knocked in Mauricio Dubon on a groundout to second base for the first run. Heller then smoked a line drive double off the wall in left field to drive in Vinicio. Jordan Procyshen later beat out a potential double play ball that allowed Heller to score and put the Red Sox up 3-0.
The final Red Sox run came thanks to a pair of two out doubles in the fourth, with Zach Kapstein driving in Franklin Guzman on a shot off the center field wall.
Martinez was 2-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to ten games in game two. Dubon went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Heller drove in one, scored one and walked in a 1-for-2 effort.
Sicnarf Loopstok broke up the shutout with a leadoff home run off of Taylor Grover in the seventh, but the Hillcats would get no closer. The doubleheader sweep was the third of the season for the Sox and the second at Lynchburg City Stadium. Salem is now 9-3 in six doubleheaders.
The Sox return to the Hill City for one more game on Thursday night at 6,30 p.m. Kevin McAvoy (5-7, 4.08) will take the mound for Salem against Lynchburg’s Michael Peoples (6-3, 4.87). Fans can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.
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